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SoftRAID 3 Manual Excerpts:
Using SoftRAID 3
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2. Convert to SoftRAID 3
Disks initialized with Apple Disk Utility or SoftRAID 2.x which have volumes with data
that you want to keep can be converted to SoftRAID 3 volumes, with the Convert to SoftRAID 3
command in the Disk menu. If you wish to retain the data, but change the volume size you will
first need to back up your data, reinitialize the disk(s) with the SoftRAID driver, create a new volume and
then add back your data.
Note: If you want to create, delete, convert, or initialize a
volume which is the startup volume or which shares a disk with the startup volume, you will need to start
up your Mac from a different startup volume or a SoftRAID Startup CD-ROM or DVD. Volumes undergoing these changes
need to be unmounted and the volume from which the Mac is booted cannot be unmounted. To create a CD-ROM or DVD
startup disk, you use the Create SoftRAID Startup CD-ROM or DVD command under the Utilities menu.
For more details, see page 33 of this manual.
To Convert Disks to SoftRAID 3:
1. Back up all the volumes on the disks you are about to convert.
2. If you are converting a disk containing the Startup volume or one that shares a disk with the startup volume on your PowerPC or Intel machine, start up from a
SoftRAID startup CD-ROM or DVD, or a separate FireWire disk. For all other volumes, start up as usual.
3. If you are converting a disk containing a Mirror volume select the Preferences item under the SoftRAID menu. Go to the Driver tab and change the “Mirror
volume Secondary disk time-out” Preference to 2 minutes. Since the disks of AppleRAID and SoftRAID 2.x volumes are converted one-at-a-time,
and the SoftRAID driver looks for those disks to appear in a certain amount of time, (see Mirror Essentials in the Manual for more details), this procedure allows you enough time to convert the entire volume. It is also important not to use the volume until all of the disks in that volume are converted.
4. Make sure that Apple Disk Utility is not running.
5. Highlight the disks you wish to convert in the Disk column of the Application window.
If you are not sure which disks are in the Volume, first highlight the volume in the Volume column.
6. Select the menu item Convert to SoftRAID 3 under the Disk menu.
The following dialog box appears:
7. Select the Convert button. You may be asked for your password before SoftRAID will complete the operation.
Converted Apple disks will show a new SoftRAID volume of the same size as the original volume. For non-RAID volumes, this will be almost the entire disk capacity with just 128 MB of free space left over. This size is regardless of how much data is stored in the volume.
If you have converted a Startup volume you will need to select it in the System Preferences Startup Disk window in order to boot your Mac from it. On an Intel machine the system on the converted disk must be 10.4.8 or later to be bootable.
Note: SoftRAID will not convert an AppleRAID Mirror volume which has failed. To fix the failed state you must correct it in AppleRAID. You can either rebuild the disks in AppleRAID or disconnect the failed disk and convert just the working disk. To detect which disk has failed, you can try copying a large file to or from the volume and seeing which disk is blinking (working) and which disk isn’t (failed).
Creating New SoftRAID Volumes
Disks which have been initialized with the SoftRAID application which have free space available can
be selected to contain SoftRAID volumes with the New... command under the Volume menu. Step-by step
instructions for creating new Mirror and Stripe volumes can be found in the Mirror Essentials and Stripe Essentials sections of this manual.
New... - This command in the Volume menu, brings up the New Volume window which is used to create non-RAID, Stripe, or Mirror volumes.
The type of volume can be selected using the icons at the top of the window or the pull-down
menu by the Volume type text. After a Volume type is selected and disks are selected, the maximum volume size will be displayed. A smaller size can be entered. After the volume name is entered and the file system, optimization and journaling option chosen, the volume can be created. If the volume is either a Stripe or a Mirror, SoftRAID will show a window asking for further information. (These windows are discussed in the Mirror Essentials and Stripe Essentials sections of this manual.) After the volume is created, a Volume tile will appear in the application window and a Volume icon with the same name will appear on the desktop.
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Types of volumes:
Non-RAID volumes
Non-RAID volumes reside on a single disk and are used like any other volume for reading and writing data. Non-RAID volumes can contain a Mac OS X system and be used as a startup volume.
Stripe volumes
A Stripe volume will increase the speed with which your data is written and read from the disks. To obtain optimal performance from a Stripe volume, you will want to carefully consider the the bus speed and bus combinations mentioned in the Choosing the Right Bus section on page 6 of this manual. To find out more about maintaining Stripe volumes, read Stripe Essentials later in this manual. Note: Although a Stripe volume can contain a Mac OS X system, it cannot be used as a startup volume.
Mirror Volumes
A Mirror volume always consists of a Primary disk and one or more secondary disks. Secondary disks are identical copies of the Primary disk. In the process of creating a Mirror volume, you will choose which disk will be your Primary disk. If, at any time, the Primary disk is missing from the volume or encounters a read or write error, SoftRAID will automatically convert one of the secondary disks to be the Primary disk. The Primary disk should always be the fastest, most reliable disk. Mirror volumes can contain a Mac OS X system and be used as a startup volume.
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Creating a SoftRAID Startup (“Boot”) Volume
As discussed in the Planning your SoftRAID Volumes section of this manual, you can decide to have your startup system reside in a non-RAID or Mirror SoftRAID volume, or
in a standard Apple volume. To create a SoftRAID boot volume, you can either convert an existing Apple boot volume with the Convert to SoftRAID 3 command described
previously or you can add Mac OS X to a new or existing SoftRAID Mirror or non-RAID volume.
To add Mac OS X to a new or existing SoftRAID non-RAID or Mirror volume you will need to create a modified Mac OS X install CD-ROM or DVD which contains the SoftRAID driver. The
SoftRAID CDs and DVDs section, starting on page 32 of this manual, gives you a detailed description of this process.
To create a new SoftRAID Startup Volume
1. Startup your Mac from a startup volume which does not share a disk with the volume you are about to create. Use a SoftRAID Startup CD or DVD as
described on page 35 of this manual, or a separate FireWire startup disk.
2. Create a new SoftRAID non-RAID or Mirror volume with the New... command under the Volume window.
3. Restart your Mac with the Modified Mac OS X Install CD-ROM or DVD. To do this, insert it into your CD slot and startup or restart your machine while holding down the “c” key. Once your Mac has started up, you will open into the standard Mac OS X installer window. Follow the instructions for selecting the appropriate volumes for installation.
The disks will work the same as they do when they are used to install a system on an Apple volume. A SoftRAID volume may appear as a folder instead of a volume icon during the install process. This will not affect your ability to install Mac OS X onto it.
When the Install process is finished, the Mac will restart using your newly created SoftRAID startup volume.
Changing your Volumes
This section will describe some of the items under the Volume and Utilities menus which are used to change Volumes. For the Mirror volume and Stripe volume specific commands, please read the Mirror Essentials and/or Stripe Essentials sections of this manual.
Delete - Deleting a volume wipes away all partitions for that volume as well as all the data in that volume. SoftRAID will ask you for password authentication to initiate this procedure. The Volume tile will disappear and the Volume icon will vanish from the desktop. If SoftRAID is unable to unmount the volume because the volume is shared or another application is using it, you will receive an error message.
Note: If you are creating, deleting, or converting a volume which is the boot volume or which shares the same disk as the boot volume, you will need to start up your Mac from a different system disk or a SoftRAID Startup CD-ROM or DVD. To create a SoftRAID Startup CD-ROM or DVD, you use the Create SoftRAID Startup CD-ROM or DVD command under the Utilities menu.
Erase - Erasing a volume saves the volume and its partition map but removes all data files from it. You will be prompted to rename the volume and be able to change its optimization and journaling if desired.
Install/Reinstall/Update SoftRAID Driver - The SoftRAID driver needs to be installed on any startup volume which will be connected to SoftRAID volumes. Installing the driver does not change the startup volume into a SoftRAID volume. When the application starts up for the first time it looks to see if a driver is installed in any systems on any volumes connected to the Mac and gives you the opportunity to install it. The driver has to be installed on the startup volume for SoftRAID to operate but it does not need to be on the other systems unless they will be used at some later date as the startup volumes. This option allows you to install the driver at times other than when SoftRAID detects the absence of the driver. If the SoftRAID driver is already installed, the command changes to Reinstall. You may want to reinstall the driver if you thought it had become corrupted. If SoftRAID detects an older driver, the command changes to Update.
Uninstall SoftRAID Driver - If, at some time, you want to troubleshoot a disk or volume situation without the presence of the SoftRAID driver, you can use this command to uninstall it. Once the driver is gone, the system will no longer be able to see any SoftRAID volumes connected to the Mac.
Mount - A volume which does not appear on the desktop is considered unmounted. A volume can be unmounted by dragging its Volume icon to the trash/eject icon on the dock.
The Volume tile will continue to appear in the Application window but the volume icon will not appear on the desktop. To make the volume remount, highlight the Volume tile and choose the Mount command.
Enable/Disable Journaling - When Journaling is enabled, the file system will create an area on the volume where changes to the volume’s file system are recorded before the changes are actually made. When rebooting after a crash, the Mac uses this information to rebuild the volume’s file system. This item can be selected when the volume is being created in the New volume window and then can be changed at a later date with this menu command. It is recommended to always use journaling unless the application being used suggests that it be disabled.
Clear I/O counters - SoftRAID tracks I/O counts and errors by volume, and by disk. This menu item will clear all I/O Counters on the selected volume(s) or disk(s).
Optimize for.... - When creating a SoftRAID volume you are asked how you would like SoftRAID to optimize the volume for the best performance for your use. If you decide to change the use of the volume, you can go and change the optimization with this command.
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